Born in Damascus in 1962, Shaykh Muhammad descends from a family whose lineage goes back to the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam, through his grandson Sayyiduna al-Hasan, radiya Allahu 'anhu. His ancestors also include some of the greatest scholars of Syria. His father, Shaykh Ibrahim al-Ya'qoubi (d. 1985/1406 H.), was one of the greatest scholars Syria saw in the past 50 years.As a little boy, Shaykh Muhammad crawled in the Grand Umayyad Mosque and the Darwishiyya Mosque, where his father was an instructor for 40 years, and sat in the laps of some of the greatest scholars. Under his father's tutelage, Shaykh Muhammad followed a solid traditional curriculum since the age of four, studying the major classical works on the various disciplines of the Shari'ah as well as the instrumental disciplines. He received ijazas in Hadith from several of the most prominent scholars in Syria.

Shaykh Muhammad pursued his academic studies at the University of Damascus, Faculty of Shari'ah. He also received a degree in Arabic literature in 1987 and completed a two-year study of philosophy at the Arab University of Beirut. In 1991, Shaykh Muhammad joined the PhD program of linguistics at Gothenburg University in Sweden, Department of Oriental Studies, where he also worked as a researcher and a teacher of classical Arabic literature. He worked in Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah in Kuwait in 1990 as Research Editor and later as Assistant Director for Research and Studies.

In Sweden, Shaykh Muhammad served the Muslim community of Gothenburg as Imam, where he struggled for the establishment of Islam in the country. In 1999, the Swedish Islamic society in Stockholm chose him as the Mufti of Sweden. Besides working in Syria and Sweden, Shaykh Muhammad participated in conferences, delivered lectures, and gave Friday speeches in the Middle East, Europe, Canada, and the United States. Shaykh Muhammad taught his first class at the age of eleven in Qura'an and Tajweed, delivered his first public speeches at the age of twelve, and gave his first Friday khutba at the age of fourteen and a half.

Shaykh Muhammad has three children and currently resides in Damascus, Syria.

Lineage

Shaykh Muhammad descends from a scholarly family whoselineage goes back to the Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu 'alayhi sallam, throughhis grandson Sayyiduna al-Hasan, radiya Allahu 'anhu. He is also related to Mawlay Idris al-Anwar who built the city of Fes. Mawlay Idris' lineageis as follows: he is the son of Mawlay Idris the Great; who is the son ofSayyiduna Abdullah al-Kamil; who is the son of Sayyiduna al-Hasan, theSecond; who is the son of Sayyiduna al-Hasan, radiya Allah 'anhu; who isthe grandson of the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam.

Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya’qoubi’s ancestors also include some of the most renownedscholars of Syria: Shaykh Sharif al-Ya’qoubi (d. 1943/1362 AH) was hisfather’s uncle, and Shaykh Muhammad ‘Arabi al-Ya’qoubi (d. 1965/1384 AH)was his father’s maternal uncle; both were the Malikite Imams of theOmayyad mosque. Shaykh Siddiq al-Ya’qoubi (d. 1889/1307 AH) was hispaternal great-grandfather, and Shaykh Isma’il al-Ya’qoubi (d. 1960/1380AH), a great Wali known for his miracles, was his own grandfather. Hisfather, Shaykh Ibrahim al-Ya’qoubi (d. 1985/1406 AH), has been proclaimed one of thegreatest scholars Syria has seen in the past 50 years; he was also the Imam andteacher of the Umayyad Mosque.

Education and Career

In the summer of 1973, at the age of eleven, Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi started teaching at the Darwishiyya Mosque where he taught a regular Qur'an and Tajweed class. He began giving public speeches in Ramadan in the same mosque at the age of twelve. At the age of fourteen and a half, he started delivering Friday speeches. He wrote his first published article when he was seventeen years old in al-Majalla al-'Arabiyya in Riyadh, KSA and published his first book when he was twenty three. At the age of twenty, some of his Friday Khutbas were broadcast live on Syrian radio stations.

Shaykh Muhammad studied traditional Islamic Sciences under his father. For over twenty years, he studied over 500 works in the sciences of Qur'an, Hadith, Jurisprudence, and Logic. His father, gave him full authority to narrate Hadith, to teach and to issue fatwas.

Besides serving as a Friday speaker and instructor until 1990, Shaykh Muhammad pursued his academic studies at the University of Damascus, Faculty of Shari'ah, where he frequented some lectures and benefited from several professors between 1982-1985. He also received a degree in Arabic literature in 1987 and completed a two-year study of philosophy at the Arab University of Beirut. In 1991, Shaykh Muhammad joined the PhD program of linguistics at Gothenburg University in Sweden, Department of Oriental Studies, where he also worked as a researcher and a teacher of classical Arabic literature until 1996.

He also worked in Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah in Kuwait in 1990 as Research Editor, and, between 1998-1999, as Assistant Director for Research and Studies, a position he was awarded due to his keen interest in the studies of ancient Arabic manuscripts and paleography. He eventually resigned to devote his time to the Sacred Knowledge and to serve its students in teaching and writing.

While in school, Shaykh Muhammad studied French as a second language. It was in 1988 that he began learning the basics of English and German. At the age of 30, upon traveling to Sweden, he realized how vital is the English language in the work for Islam, so he moved to England at that time and completed the FCE, CAE, CCS, and CPE Cambridge courses in English within a year before returning to Sweden where he continued his studies in Swedish.

In Sweden, Shaykh Muhammad served the Muslim community of Gothenburg as Imam, where he struggled for the establishment of Islam in the country. His work there was documented in several newspaper articles and interviews; it included teaching Muslims, giving presentations about Islam, and engaging in multi-religious dialogues and debates on political and social issues, such as European-Islamic dialogue, atheism, etc.. Shaykh Muhammad was hosted by all of the major Swedish universities and Institutions and was co-founder of the Nordic Center for Inter-Religious Dialogue(NCID) in Gothenburg. He represented Swedish Muslims in several international conferences until he returned to Syria towards the end of 1996. In 1999, the Swedish Islamic Society in Stockholm (SIS) chose him as the Mufti of Sweden, forwarding to him the burning issues of fiqh that concern Swedish Muslims. In the year 2000, SIS elected him as a permanent founding member of the Swedish Islamic Academy in Stockholm in recognition of his work in Sweden to which he continues to commit through lectures and classes during his visits to Scandinavia.

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